Teaching aid

ABSTRACT

A teaching aid for pre-school pupils consisting of an elongated rod and articles movable along the rod together with a readily removable mask for selectively hiding one or more of the articles from view as they are moved behind the mask.

United States Patent [1 1 J erman m1 3,710,456 Jan. 1 6, 1973 [54] TEACHING AID [76] Inventor: Max E. Jerman, 1563 Miller Avenue, San Jose, Calif. 95129 [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 62,293

[52] US. Cl. ..35/3l B [51] Int, Cl. ..G09b 19/02 [58] Field of Search ..35/3l R, 31 B,,3l D, 32, 33

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,655,737 10/1953 DonDero ......35/33 637,964 11/1899 Johnsen 4.35/33 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 8/1969 Great Britain ..35/32 Primary Examiner-Wm. H. Grieb Attorney-Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert [57] ABSTRACT A teaching aid for pre-school pupils consisting of an elongated rod and articles movable along the rod together with a readily removable mask for selectively hiding one or more of the articles from view as they are moved behind the mask.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures TEACHING AID BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to teaching aids and devices and more particularly to a teaching aid for introducing number concepts to the pre-school student or pupil.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS be readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The teaching aid for use as described further below comprises an elongated support member or guide element such as the dowel'rod ll fo'r supporting and guiding a plurality of articles, such as the rectangular blocks 12, for movement along rod 11.

A mask element 13 is movable into and out ofa pupils line of sight to hide a portion of rod 11 and any articles 12 disposed thereon. Thus, the mask 13 is arranged to selectively block the line of sight so as to hide one or more of the articles 12 when moved behind the mask. 1

Means forming a base 14 serves to carry rod 11 between a pair of laterally spaced upstanding supports l6, 17. The ends of rod 11 therefore are secured in suitable fashion to the upstanding supports 16, 17 as,

, for example, by means of disposing the ends of rod 11 in drilled holes formed in supports 16, 17M otherwise. One suitable means for achieving this is to employ a lock pin 18 entered downwardly through the exposed ends of rod 11.

Support 17 includes an elongated slot 19 adapted to cooperate and mate with an elongated slot 21 formed in the end of mask.l3. Slots 1 9, 21 are arranged to be mutually engaged for holding mask 13in position toremovable so as to expose this portion 22.

Slot 19 is, of course, located sufficiently clear of rod 11 whereby blocks 12 can be slidably moved behind mask 13 for purposes of conducting exercises of the following general type and others.

Thus, referring to FIG. 2 a sequence of questions to I students and manipulations of blocks 12 can be provided starting with FIG. 2a asking the children how many blocks they see on the rod, the answer being zero or none."'Subsequently, the teacher can move one of the blocks onto the rod into the line of sight of'a pupil and ask how many blocks the pupil now sees. Then, as shown in FIG. 20 the teacher can position a second block into view and inquire as to how many blocks the pupil now sees. With the answer being two" the teacher can reinforce this learning by stating that: one block and one block provides two blocks. Then the teacher can move one of the blocks behind the mask 13 and again inquire as to how many blocks the student sees and how many blocks are behind the mask. This exercise can be followed up with explanations that by taking away one block from two" blocks there is one block left.

Similarly otherexercises utilizing additional blocks on the rod can also be conducted whereby concepts of numbers such as 2', l, and O as well as concepts as subtraction and addition and further concepts of sets of numbers being divided as well as concepts of multiplication and fractions can be initiated utilizing a device of the kind described. i

It is to be understood, of course, that additional blocks 12 will normally be desirable for conducting various operations. I

By removing mask 13 entirely the concept of two can be readily understood. Thus, the teacher can show and count the single blocks 12 as they reside on rod 11.

Accordingly, mask 13 being readily movable into and out of a masking position can readily serve to supplement each teaching mode or routine.

I claim 7 l. A teaching aid for introducing concepts in numbers to students at an early age comprising an elongated support member, means for supporting said member in a horizontal orientation, a mask element disposed to hide a portion of said support member from a student, a plurality of articles carried by said member and movable therealong'into and out of said hidden portion of said member, said maslk being sufficiently dimensioned to hide any of said articles therebehind,

- disposed to engage the first named slot for holding said hide the end portion 22 of rod 11 and to be readily mask in position tohide said portion and readily removable to expose said portion, while permitting said articles to be moved behind said mask and be screened from view. 1 v

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1. A teaching aid for introducing concepts in numbers to students at an early age comprising an elongated support member, means for supporting said member in a horizontal orientation, a mask element disposed to hide a portion of said support member from a student, a plurality of articles carried by said member and movable therealong into and out of said hidden portion of said member, said mask being sufficiently dimensioned to hide any of said articles therebehind, the first named said means including an upstanding support member formed to include an elongated slot, an elongated slot formed in an end of said mask and disposed to engage the first named slot for holding said mask in position to hide said portion and readily removable to expose said portion, while permitting said articles to be moved behind said mask and be screened from view. 